Chapter 4

I refused, but he went straight to the property management and had me thrown out.

To my shock, the deed to the house had somehow been transferred to Clara's name without my knowledge.

Staring at his familiar face, I suddenly felt like he was a complete stranger.

My suitcase felt incredibly heavy.

Inside were the scarf Julian had hand-knitted for me, the teddy bear he got me for my birthday, and the custom wedding ring he had spent six months getting designed in Italy. I threw them all in the trash.

The physical weight of my luggage barely changed, but my heart felt immensely lighter.

Julian saw me throw them away. His hand twitched as if to stop me, but in the end, he remained silent.

I checked into a cheap motel. I only had three days left before my flight out of this place.

However, I didn't expect what happened next.

Someone posted a video of me being kicked out of the villa online.

The footage was heavily edited, making it look like I was begging Julian for a marriage license.

Since Julian was a prominent figure, he always drew public attention.

And with my history of being stood up at the altar nine times,

the video quickly went viral.

I became a trending topic on Instagram once again.

Before I could even process what was happening, my phone rang. It was Julian.

His voice was dripping with disgust. "Are you only satisfied when you cause a massive scene? Clara already said she won't steal my heart from you, and that the wedding is yours. Why do you keep dragging this out?"

"She saw the video, and now she thinks she's stolen your place. Her eyes are swollen from crying."

"Come back right now, apologize to her, and clear this up online."

I opened my phone. The rumors were spiraling out of control.

The comment section was filled with venomous attacks against me.

[I know her. She got dumped nine times and still won't let go. The actual couple is married now, and she's still acting like a desperate parasite!]

[She deserves all the hate. Imagine being such a pathetic loser of a woman.]

Actually, I couldn't help but agree with that last comment.

Living like this was indeed a complete failure.

Half an hour later,

a photo of Julian and Clara was posted on his company's official Instagram account.

The two of them were holding up their official marriage certificate.

Even the official city clerk's database confirmed their legal marriage.

I was dragged into the spotlight once again.

This time, it wasn't just nasty comments; it turned into full-blown online harassment.

Words like "homewrecker" and "bitch" flooded my DMs on Snapchat and Instagram.

Wave after wave of vitriol hammered my phone, threatening my sanity.

Amidst the chaos, a text from Julian popped up: "Clara is having another episode. Once the wedding venue is fully set up, I'll come get you."

I deleted his message.

Then, I blocked him entirely, picked up my suitcase, and headed to the airport.

...

As the online rumors ran wild, Julian figured he was just teaching me a lesson, hoping to stop me from constantly demanding to be his wife.

He had already told me he would marry me once Clara recovered. Why did I have to throw such a fit?

He looked at our chat history, but didn't bother to reply.

He planned to come find me only after the public backlash died down.

Clara wrapped her arms around him from behind, her voice soft and pitiful. "Julian, you're getting married to Amber soon. Can you spend these last few days with me?"

Looking at Clara's tearful eyes, Julian's heart softened once again.

He figured it wouldn't make a difference if he just picked me up on the day of the wedding.

...

On the day of the wedding,

Julian, dressed in a custom-tailored suit, arrived at the motel to pick me up.

He knocked on the door for half an hour, but there was no response.

He walked down to the front desk. "Where is the guest in Room 666?"

The receptionist checked the system and looked up. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have no record of anyone checking into that room."